In my 15 years of covering DU hockey and working with coach George Gwozdecky, I witnessed a first today. With two regular-season games remaining, Gwoz freely admitted the top-ranked Pioneers (24-6-4) are safe and sound when it comes to the 16-team NCAA Tournament.

Never thought I’d hear him say that at this point of the season. But, indeed, I agree. There is no way the Pios could fall out of at-large range. They’re No. 1 in the PairWise, and even two losses this weekend against Colorado College wouldn’t do much damage. Losing next weekend’s best-of-three WCHA playoff series to Michigan Tech would hurt, and perhaps cost DU a No. 1 seed, but the Pios would still be in the show.

DU media guy Erich Bacher brought up an interesting point to Gwoz in today’s press conference. Bacher noted that the Pios, who are on a NCAA-best 10-game winning streak, will win the NCAA championship if they win their next 10. No. 10 would be the NCAA title game at Detroit’s Ford Field.

Said Gwoz: “I will believe you if you say if we win 10 more that means the final game in Detroit. I don’t know if that’s fact; I’ll just have to trust you. But, yeah, I would say anybody would say, ‘Yeah, we want to win 10 more.’ But it gets a lot harder now than ever before . . . And you get to those game where it’s single elimination, not a lot of opportunities for a second chance. That’s true for everybody, but to answer you’re question, yeah, we want to win 10 more. Absolutely.”

The recently established pipeline from the Colorado Thunderbirds to the University of Denver is flowing. Former Pioneers forward Angelo Ricci, who runs the triple-A amateur organization and coaches its under-16 team, told me today that U18 star Daniel Doremus has committed to play for DU.

Doremus is a forward who grew up in Aspen and Steamboat. He’s a 1991 birth year. Not sure of his immediate plans. I suspect he’ll play next season in junior-A. I will update.

“We are so proud of Daniel and wish him all the best in the future,” said Ricci, an assistant coach on the U18 team under another former Pio, defenseman Shawn Kurulak. “The Thunderbirds continue to provide a vehicle for the elite student-athlete to develop and advance to the next level.”

Ricci previously announced that three of his U17 players _ Gavin Stoick, Quentin Shore and Matias Cleland _ have been selected to tryout for the U.S. National Development Program in Ann Arbor, Mich. That tryout could lead to an appointment on the USNDP’s U17 team. DU has had good success recruiting from the USNDP. Drew Shore is one of three current Pioneers freshmen to play for the U18 last season. Before the Thunderbirds were established, Colorado natives J.D. Corbin and Geoff Paukovich landed at DU from the USNDP.

Denver coach George Gwozdecky questioned a call in the first period against the Colorado College Tigers at Magness Arena March 5, 2010. (Photo by Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

(NOTE: My Tuesday notes were trimmed because of space. Here is the full version:)

Hoping to lessen his team’s psychological load heading into this weekend’s regular-season-ending series against Colorado College, University of Denver coach George Gwozdecky caught himself looking ahead.

Before last Saturday’s series finale at Minnesota State, Gwozdecky remembers thinking of how nice it would be to take the Western Collegiate Hockey Association championship equation out of the CC series. To do that, the top-ranked Pioneers needed to sweep the Mavericks, and DU captain Rhett Rakhshani made that happen with an overtime goal with 13 seconds remaining.

The 4-3 victory gave DU its 12th MacNaughton Cup as league champion and sends the Pioneers into their rivalry weekend with alleviated pressure.

“Having won it last weekend certainly allows us to define our focus, if you will, for this weekend’s games _ it’s just on the rivalry and the importance of the Gold Pan,” Gwozdecky said Monday. “That’s where the bulls-eye is, where our only focus is . . . the (MacNaughton Cup) is the most difficult and challenging championship in all of college hockey, and it hasn’t been easy, but now we move on.”

DU beat and tied CC in December and needs one win or two ties to reclaim the Gold Pan for the first time since 2005.

Banner season. The Pioneers, who are on a NCAA-leading 10-game winning streak, haven’t lost since Jan. 23 (at Wisconsin). The streak has shaped what could end up being one of the finest seasons in WCHA history. DU’s four league losses are tied for second fewest since the WCHA went to a 28-game schedule in 1997. North Dakota went 24-2-2 in 1998-99, and the 2000-01 Sioux and 2002-03 Tigers only lost four times in league play.

WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod credits much of DU’s success to Rakhshani, the league’s scoring leader, fellow senior forward Tyler Ruegsegger and junior goalie Marc Cheverie. “DU obviously has been able to maintain more continuous momentum throughout the season, and (Cheverie) has distinguished them from other teams, as well as the veteran part of things,” McLeod said. “Rakhshani and Ruegsegger, it just seems like when something is really on the line, they deliver. It’s kind of an oddity to have guys of that caliber playing as seniors, completing four years in college.”

Footnotes. McLeod said the MacNaughton Cup arrived at his Denver-based offices Monday and will be presented to the Pioneers before or after Friday’s game at Magness Arena. . . . Gwozdecky did not have an updated status of defenseman Chris Nutini, who missed last weekend’s series with an ankle injury.

Kensler joined The Denver Post in 1989 and has covered a variety of beats, including Colorado, Colorado State, golf, Olympics and the Denver Broncos. His brush with greatness: losing in a two-on-two pickup basketball game at Ohio State against two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

Terry Frei graduated from Wheat Ridge High School in the Denver area and has degrees in history and journalism from the University of Colorado-Boulder. He worked for the Rocky Mountain News while attending CU and joined the Post staff after graduation. He has also worked at the Oregonian in Portland, Ore., and The Sporting News. His seventh book, March 1939: Before the Madness, was issued in February 2014.